mums404 Samizdat Collection, 1955-1983 Finding Aid Finding aid prepared by SCUA staff. Encoding funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Special Collections and University Archives, W.E.B. Du Bois Library, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Amherst, MA

2003

Finding aid encoded using Perl scripts and edited in XMetal 2.0. Encoded by Eric Cartier. 2003-07-28 Finding aid written in English. 2005-09-23 mu217 converted from EAD 1.0 to 2002 by v1to02-5c.xsl (sy2003-10-15). Special Collections and University Archives, W.E.B. Du Bois Library, University of Massachusetts Amherst Samizdat Collection, 1955-1983 Finding Aid Manuscript Number 404 Encoding funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Collection Overview Samizdat Collection 1955-1983 MS 404 12 boxes (6 linear ft.) Special Collections and University Archives, W.E.B. Du Bois Library, University of Massachusetts Amherst In the mid-1970s, the Center for the Study of New Russian Literature in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures at UMass Amherst began collecting the self-published and underground literature of the Soviet Union as a means of documenting social and political dissent in the Communist state. The Samizdat collection includes writings in several genres -- chiefly fiction, poetry, drama, and literary, social, and political criticism -- in handwritten, photocopied, and printed form, as well as photos, a passport application for Mikhail Baryshnikov, and memorabilia from an American production of one of the plays in the collection. English. Historical Note

With the formal publishing houses and mimeograph and xerographic machines controlled by the state in the Soviet Union, dissident literature circulated in manuscript form, copied over and over by hand or typewriter. Despite these difficulties, samizdat (literally self-published) writing flourished in the 1970s and 1980s and exerted a significant cultural and political influence. Although individual works migrated to the west, often with the exiled writers themselves, very little was ever formally published due to the relatively limited market and low potential for profit.

In the mid-1970s, the Center for the Study of New Russian Literature in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures at UMass Amherst began collecting samizdat to document political and social dissent in the Soviet Union. Laszlo M. Tikos, Head of the Department, established the Center both to create an archive of the New Russian literature and a place for its systematic study.

Scope and Contents of the Collection

Writings by Russian dissident authors in many genres (chiefly fiction, poetry, drama, and literary, social, and political criticism) in handwritten, photocopied, and printed form (printed versions were made in the United States, West Germany, Spain and Argentina), all unpublished in the Soviet Union; also photos, a passport application for Mikhail Baryshnikov, and memorabilia from an American production of one of the plays in the collection.

Organization of the Collection

This collection is organized into four series:

Series 1. Literature Series 2. Literary Criticism Series 3. Social and Political Criticism in Current Events Series 4. Bibliography

The collection is open for research.

Preferred Citation

Cite as: Samizdat Collection (MS 404). Special Collections and University Archives, W.E.B. Du Bois Library, University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Acquired from Laszlo Tikos, 1975 and later.

See also the Basia Jakubowska-Schlatner Solidarity Collection and the Michael Bernhard Solidarity Collection (MS 575) for Polish underground literature.

Processed by SCUA staff.

Search Terms Dremluga, Vladimir. Khudiakov, Genrikh. Kuklovskaia, Elizaveta. Mamleev, Yuri. Monastyrskii, Andrei. Len, Vladislav. Mamonova, Tatyana. Miroliubov, Yuri. Suslov, Aleksandr. Underground literature--Soviet Union. Writers--Soviet Union. Series 1. Literature 1 1 Dremluga, Vladimir Sveditel' stva Protsessa 1 2 Dremluga, Vladimir Sviatyna 1 3 Dremluga, Vladimir Deviatyi Etazh Okhraniaiot 1 4-13 Gornyi, Vladimir Palachi evo Master 1 14 Ingul, V. V Puti 1 15 Friazino, Dorogatsev Iz Shakespeare Sonnets 1 16 Friazino, Dorogatsev Iz Skazka o Zhizni shekspira 1 17 Bokshtein, Ilya Stikhi 1 18 Alnikin, Nikolai Rifmovannye Konchiki 1 19 Alnikin, Nikolai Spolokh 1 20 Aranzon, Leonid Poems 1 21-24 Khalif, Lev Tse, de, el 1 25-27 Kholin, I. S. Minusom Edinitsa 1 28 Khudiakov, Genrikh Koktesel' 1 29 Khudiakov, Genrikh Komentarii/Avtograf 1 30 Khudiakov, Genrikh Laertid 2 31 Khudiakov, Genrikh Laertid/Primechaniia K Poeme Laertid 2 32 Khudiakov, Genrikh Russian/English poems 2 33 Khudiakov, Genrikh Ss Tt Ii KHkh 2 34 Khudiakov, Genrikh Toska po Rodine 2 35 Khvostenko, A. Toska po Rodine Verny" 2 35A Khvostenko, A. Performance of Emergency Exit, 1979 2 36 Kovshin, V. Kolba Sveta 2 37 Kuklovskaia, Elizaveta Byloe 2 38 Kuklovskaia, Elizaveta Metel' 2 39 Kuklovskaia, Elizaveta Skazki 2 40 Kuklovskaia, Elizaveta Skauty 2 41 Limonov, Eduard Avtoportret S Elenoi 2 42 Limonov, Eduard Various poems 2 43 Malov, W. Ot Kaaina K Hristu 2 44 Mamleev, Yuri The Last Trace of Spinoza 2 45 Mamleev, Yuri Kovor-Samolet 2 46 Mamleev, Yuri Village Life 2 47 Mamleev, Yuri Vstuplenie/Vobok 2 48 Mamleev, Yuri Zhenikh 2 49 Mariia Dlia chevo miy jivem na svete 2 50 Miatlev, I. Ukrainskaia Epopeia 2 51 Miroliubov, Yuri Babushkin Sunduk 2 52 Miroliubov, Yuri Rodina Mat' 3 53 Moll, Viktor Virshi 3 54 Monastyrskii, Andrei Sochinenie 73-ovo Goda 3 55 Monastyrskii, Andrei Stalin-stixotvoreniya 3 56 Monastyrskii, Andrei Punktirnaya Kompozitskiya S Risunkami 3 57 Paley, Peter N. Povesti dnei voennikh 1941-1945: Rodin 3 58-61 Perelshin, Valerii Poema Bez Predmata 3 62 Romer, Victoria Poems 3 63 Savinskii, Viktor Na severnom dontse v nachale Veka 3 64 Savinskii, Viktor Pobezhdaiushchaia 3 65 Shchapova, Elena Stikhotvoreniia 4 66-75 Shchetinskii Tiazhest' 4 76-78 Volokhonskii, Anri Zapasnoi vykhod 4 79 Staritsky, Maria Sbornik obsheupotrebitel' novo Vyrazhenii 4 80 Bakhchanian, Vagrich 1968-1974 4 81 Tetenov, Nikolai Pamphlets 4 82 Altman, Moses The Undying Swan 4 83 Miroliubov, Yuri Prabkino uchenie 5 84 Kuklouskaia, Elizaveta Liricheskie stikhi 5 85 Saptir, Genrikh Stikhi raznikh let, 5 86 Saptir, Genrikh Molchanie 5 87 Erofeev, Benedikt Moskua-petushki 5 88-90 Bodak, Rostislav Poems, plays, essays, 1970-1976 5 91-92 Paley, Peter N. Povesti dnei voennikh 1941-1945 6-7 93-102 Gresserov, P.S. Ot troiki do samoleta-chast' 6-7 103 Gresserov, P.S. Ot troiki do samoleta-Epilog 8 104 Paley, Peter N. Povesti dnei voennikh 1941-1945: Zolushka iz Kieva 8 105 Len, Vladislav. Inokhodets Misha Baryshnikov. Application for a passport, Mikhail Baryshnikov 1973 8 106 Len, Vladislav Avtobiografiia 8 107 Len, Vladislav Obereutiana. Moskva, 1974 8 108 Len, Vladislav Vozhestvenne stikhi. Moskva, 1972 8 109 Len, Vladislav Kniga poslanii. Moskva, 1976 8 110 Len, Vladislav Kniga poslanii. Moskva, 1976 B" (play) Moskva, 1970 8 111 Mamonova, Tatyana Stikhi (Leningrad, 1978) 8 112 Mamonova, Tatyana (Stikhi, 1977) 8 112a Chasy; Almanakh (microfilm strips) Series 2. Literary Criticism 9 113 Smith, G.S. Modern Russian Underground Song 9 114 Erofeev, Benedikt Vasilii rozanov 9 115 Korn, Aleksandr Vsemipno-prostornaia vechnost, Moskva, 1978 Series 3. Social and Political Criticism in Current Events 9 116 Zwarun, A.A. International Sakharov Hearing. Eng. ed. 9 117 Zwarun, A.A. International Sakharov Hearing. Russian 9 118 Belonol'skii, A. International Sakharov Hearing. Russian na Fone Proshlovo Rossii SSR" 9 119 Cahiers du samizdat 9 120 Contemporary soviet law 9 121 Evangel' skoe slovo 9 122 Index on censorship, 3/74 10 124 Suslov, Aleksandr Plakun gorod, part 1 10 125 Suslov, Aleksandr Plakun gorod, part 2 10 126 Suslov, Aleksandr Rasskazy 10 127 Committee to Help Aleksei Khvostenko 10 128 Marko, Kurt Aleksei Khvostenko The Case of Leonid Plyushch" 10 129 Osteuropa, 10/75 10 130 Otradin, N. Poputnye Zametki 10 131 Pyatnitskii, V. Svoboda est' Svoboda 10 132 Savinskii, Viktor Dlia Lektika Sovremennosti 10 133 Savinskii, Viktor Raznyshleniya o polozhenii religii 10 134 Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr Schlesinger and Kissinger 10 135 Wischnewskaja, Julia V.N. Voinovich Series 4. Bibliography 10 136 Miroliubov, U.P. Bibliography 10 137 Pereleshin, Valerii Polnaya bibliografiya 10 138 Pereleshin, Valerii Polynaya bibliografiya c Kitai-skovo